Soccer fans in Cascadia may not be able to cheer on the US or Canadian men’s national teams at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, but they will be able to cheer on their own boys in blue, white, and green. The Cascadian men’s national team is set to compete in the CONIFA World Cup which will be held in London between May 31 - June 9.

According to its website, CONIFA - the Confederation of Independent Football Associations - is the soccer federation for all associations outside of FIFA. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sweden, CONIFA is “a global acting non-profit organization that supports representatives of international football teams from nations, de-facto nations, regions, minority peoples, and sports isolated territories.” The 2018 CONIFA World Cup will be the 3rd such event in the organization’s history. Like the past two, this year’s tournament will give non-FIFA regions and nations a chance to compete for soccer’s ultimate prize.

The Cascadian team is being organized by the Cascadia Association Football Federation (CAFF). Cascadia qualified for this year’s tournament off a regional qualification spot for North America and will be the first-ever team from North America to compete in the CONIFA World Cup. However, the organization needs some help to make this happen.

CAFF is entirely run by volunteers off of donations made by supporters of Cascadian soccer. It is currently spearheading numerous fundraising efforts to ensure Cascadia is able to send our boys to London (and get them back, of course) and successfully field a team. Most expenses have been paid for; the last remaining hurdle is covering the cost of plane tickets. Without additional assistance, CAFF runs the risk of being forced to withdraw.

Sports have the power to unite people in the spirit of national or regional pride. This year’s tournament has the potential to be a small stepping stone for the Cascadia movement by bringing soccer fans throughout our region together and upholding our regional identity. It is with this resolve that the Seattle chapter of CascadiaNow has chosen to help fundraise and sponsor a player for our team by committing $1,000 to CAFF.

This is where you come in. We need your help to financially support Cascadia’s team. If you have the means to do so, we appreciate any amount be donated to the Seattle chapter of CascadiaNow through our Donate page. To ensure your funds go directly toward sponsoring a player, copy and paste the following into the comment section:

“This gift is to support the Seattle chapter’s effort in sponsoring a CAFF player for the CONIFA World Cup.”

The deadline to make your donation to this campaign is Valentine’s Day - Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

If you’d like to know more about CAFF or find out how you can help in other ways which don’t require a financial contribution, visit cascadiafootball.org.